Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an abdominal and oblique exercise device, and more particularly to a small, lightweight portable structure and configured to be used while in the sitting position and guiding the user through at least three distinct exercise motions.
Background Information
The history of fitness goes back to early man's need for physical strength and speed while hunting. As the centuries carried on and individual cultures developed, human beings became more sedentary. This lead to an interest in fitness not as a necessity of survival, but as an important aspect of a long, healthy life. Exercise equipment has been key to this change, helping generations of people from around the world shape and condition their bodies. Although body-weight, calisthenics and yoga-based exercises were practiced by the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Indians and other cultures, the ancient Greeks are often credited with developing the earliest forms of modern exercise equipment, namely weight training equipment. According to legend, Milo of Croton, an Olympic wrestler of renown in 6th century BC, trained by lifting and carrying a newborn calf and repeating the feat daily as it grew to maturity. One of the first documented “free weights” used in athletic training were “halteres”, or hand-held weights with a hole for gripping rather than a handle, which were used as early as the fifth century B.C. Illustrations of early Greece show muscular men using dumbbells, weight plates and plummets to train for physical strength.
Skipping ahead a few millenniums, modern exercise equipment has become ubiquitous and specialized. One area of specialization is equipment concentrating on exercising the rectus abdominis muscles, the external oblique muscles, the internal oblique muscles, and the transverse abdominal muscles which is commonly referenced as abdominal and oblique exercise equipment. The present invention described herein is directed to a small, lightweight portable structure and configured to be used while in the sitting position and guiding the user through at least three distinct abdominal and oblique exercise motions.
The prior art patent literature, some of which are discussed below in greater detail, has disclosed a number of abdominal exercise devices which are formed as a small, lightweight portable structure and configured to be used while in the sitting position. The prior art devices include leg grips that engage the user's thighs and handlebars that are engaged by the user's hands and/or chest. The leg grips of many prior art devices are coupled to a stationary base member and the handlebars are coupled to a moveable cylinder top received within the base member wherein the movement of the top relative to the bottom will compress a resistance spring for resistance throughout the exercise. These devices do not efficiently or effectively isolate the muscle groups.
Regarding the prior art patent literature for abdominal exercisers U.S. Pat. No. 7,819,788 discloses an exercising apparatus for exercising the muscles of the limbs, waist and abdomen which includes an upright support with a pulley at the top, a handlebar with two grips arranged at the top and a middle part formed of a spring member, a linking device, which has a top end pivotally connected to the bottom end of the handlebar, a middle part pivotally connected to a lower part of the support and a bottom end pivotally mounted with two foot bars, and an expander extending over the pulley of the upright support and connected to between the handlebar and the support.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,306,547 discloses an abdominal exercise device that includes a frame, and upper and lower force receiving members movably mounted on respective portions of the frame and constrained to move in opposite directions. A person using the device is required to stabilize the device while seated on a conventional chair. A resistance device is interconnected between the frame and at least one of the force receiving members to resist movement of the members toward one another and/or to bias the members away from one another. The lower member is configured to support a person's feet, and the upper member is configured to support a person's hands and/or to engage a person's chest.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,008,356 discloses an exercising device which includes a main body, two handles, a support rod, a resting board, a connecting lever, and a rotation body. The main body includes two casings, a slide, and an elastic member. The rotation body includes a pivot ring secured on the connecting lever, a first disk mounted for rotation on the pivot ring, a second disk mounted for rotation on the pivot ring and combined with the first disk so that the pivot ring is located between the first disk and the second disk, and a counterweight mounted between the first disk and the second disk to rotate therewith. The exercising device is suggested to be used to exercise a user's arms, waist and abdomen simultaneously.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,939,277 discloses an abdominal exercise device that comprises a semi-rigid member, an upper member and a lower member, wherein the upper member and the lower member couple to the semi-rigid member, the upper member and lower member can be securely or detachably attachable to the semi-rigid member while the lower member can have pivoting capabilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,814,690 discloses an abdominal exercise device which includes a frame, and upper and lower force receiving members movably mounted on the frame and constrained to move in opposite directions. A resistance device is interconnected between the frame and at least one of the force receiving members to resist movement of the members toward one another and/or to bias the members away from one another. The lower member is configured to support a person's feet, and the upper member is configured to support a person's hands and/or to engage a person's chest.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,582 discloses an abdominal exerciser that has a pressing board, a shaft, a main body, a rotating disk, a bowl, a pair of connecting sleeves, and a pair of handle bars. The main body has an outer ring, and a main tube having a cross-shaped groove. The pressing board is disposed on the shaft. The shaft is inserted through the main tube. A compression spring is disposed between the pressing board and the outer ring to surround the shaft. A connecting rod is connected to the shaft. A connector is connected to an end of the connecting rod. A post is disposed on the connecting rod. The bowl is disposed on the connector. The rotating disk has an annular center flange to engage with the bowl. The connecting sleeves are disposed on the outer ring to receive the handle bars.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,819 discloses a combined abdominals (main and lower abs)/thighs/calves exercise device, which composes a base support member assembly upon which the user sits, a partially vertical and horizontal resistance mast with resilient restorative properties mounted upon the base support member support, and a collar oriented upon the upper mast. A bracket means is reciprocally mounted upon the collar and is adapted to hold a range of vertical positions along same. A pair of gripped bars transversely mounted upon the outer end of bracket means, which bars permit the user to train and strengthen major and minor muscle sets dependent upon the physical orientation of the gripped bars.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,598 discloses a portable, lap-based multi-exercise device which includes a first pair of elongate parallel members forming a base component and defining a trough for receiving the lever end of a traveling spanner bar; a pair of pivoted, upstanding lateral side bars attached at their lower ends to the torso-oriented, longitudinal ends of the trough; a first cross bar is connected pivotally to the upper ends of the side members and is adapted to receive either manual or user chest exertion, while is translated to the upper end of the spanner bar which then moves outwardly in response to user exertion thereon. A second transverse bar is pinned to the outer end of the trough and provides a second set of manual grips adapted for moving the trough component in an arcuate path towards the first cross members, thereby moving the spanner bar along the trough, to steady the device while user effort is being imposed on the latter component.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,676 discloses an exercise device for facilitating the strengthening of abdominal and back muscles, and which includes a resistance member coupled between a lap-engaged base and an arm positioning member. The resistance member resists substantially vertical downward movement relative to the base member to enhance the development of muscle strength by enabling the upper body of the user to contract and expand vertically without leaning forwardly in a safe and effective manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,138 discloses a portable abdominal and arm exercise device that includes a first pair of elongate parallel rigid members forming a base with an elongate trough therein for receiving one end of a rigid spanning bar, a second pair of upstanding spaced-apart rigid members attached at their lower ends to the first pair of elongate parallel rigid members and attached at their upper ends to one end of a cross bar. The cross-bar is attached at its other end to the rigid spanning bar.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,425 discloses a device for exercising the abdominal muscles which facilitates movement of the lower torso against a resistive force and in a complex arc which conforms to the normal forward arc of rotation of the spine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,119 discloses an exercise device for exercising abdominal muscles and lower back muscles which includes a push-bar supported on a vertical column including a compression spring means. The user curls his trunk against the resistive force, holds it for a second, twists to the right and left, and then very slowly allows the resistive force to push the trunk upward to resume the original upright position.
The above cited patents is definitely not an exhaustive listing of patents in this crowded art, as all of the following issued patents from the last five years disclose “Abdominal Exercise Devices”: U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,727,955; 8,708,874; 8,550,965; 8,353,808; 8,323,160; 8,317,668; D671,178; D671,177; 8,210,998; D655,357; 8,118,720; 8,118,718; 8,105,221; D652,461; 8,096,929; 8,075,457; D649,205; 8,062,196; 8,016,731; 8,002,683; 7,998,039; D641,434; 7,951,048; 7,938,763; 7,927,267; 7,892,147; D631,108; 7,857,741; 7,803,097; 7,780,585; 7,775,950; 7,749,144; 7,713,181; D613,351; D612,000; 7,658,701; D608,401; 7,645,217; D604,373; 7,618,357; and 7,614,989. All of the patents cited herein are incorporated herein by reference and provide excellent background in the construction and operation of abdominal exercise devices in general.
With this background it becomes clear that there remains a need for exercise equipment in general and abdominal exercise equipment in particular. Further there remains a need for a small, lightweight portable structure and configured to be used while in the sitting position and guiding the user through at least three distinct abdominal and oblique exercise motions.